theliberatorsfandomcom-20200213-history
Story: Conversations in Cyberspace
Conversations in Cyberspace is a record obtained by hackers and then released shortly after the appearance of the Soviet hero Katyusha and is a partial transcript of a series of messages sent between her and another patient during her time at a hospital in Leningrad. As Katyusha has not commented on the transcript, declining to either confirm or deny its veracity, its accuracy is suspect. Furthermore, parts of the transcript were either not recovered or lost during decoding, which further complicates attempts to verify its contents. Entry 1 User 7318 has entered the chat room. User 1651 has entered the chat room. 7318: "Hello." 1651: "Good afternoon" 7318: "Are you the person I was told to expect?" 1651: "Yes. I have been asked to assist the staff here in their attempts to understand your powers. 7318: "Oh. I thought the doctors said that they were bringing in an expert on my condition..." 1651: "There are very few who would be considered experts on Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva." 7318: "So that's what it is called? My parents didn't call it that..." 1651: "It does go by the name "Stoneman's Disease, technically, but I assumed you would prefer I did not use a name often considered insensitive." 7318: "What I would prefer is to not have it at all. Being unable to move my neck is incredibly annoying." 1651: "I would expect that is either an understatement, or you are unaware of the true nature of your condition." 7318: "True nature? Wait wait wait, what do you mean?" 1651: "Ask your doctor when they next visit you. You have the right to know your prognosis, even if your family apparently has kept it from you. 7318: "That is... ominous. Okay, uh. So getting back on topic, what are we supposed to be doing?" 1651: "My directive for today is to interview you about the conditions of your awakening." 7318: "Is there any way I can decline like last time? It's not something I like thinking of..." 1651: "Negative. Your parents signed a contract when they admitted you that in return for the hospital assuming complete responsibility for your care and treatment, you would submit to a series of tests to further our knowledge of metahuman powers." 7218: "So much for family ties. Alright, what do you want to know?" 1651: "Start by describing the precise situation." 1651: "If you do not begin shortly I will have to end our meeting and record you as uncooperative." 7218: "Okay okay. I was just trying to think of how to start." 7218: "I assume you know from my file why I was admitted to the hospital in the first place?" 1651: "I would like to hear your interpretation of the events. Be thorough." 7218: "I had broken my clavicle when I fell off my bike during a routine journey to the dispensary. The bone didn't set well, and odd growths began appearing on my shoulder and neck." 7218: "I'm not sure what my parents thought it was. They've always tried to keep things from me that they thought would worry me. Anyway, they took me to the hospital again and the doctor recommended surgically removing the growths and manually resetting the bone." 1651: "An unfortunate misdiagnosis." 7218: "I'll say. So the surgery went roughly as planned, but they ran into a lot of extra bone where it shouldn't be. I suppose that is when they realized their mistake because I remember them having a frantic discussion with my parents, promising to keep me in the hospital under observation for as long as necessary without it registering on my family's medical record as long as my parents didn't report them to the bureau." 7218: "I stayed there for several months. I honestly don't know how long it was, but during that time I gradually lost all ability to move my neck and left shoulder. One day, it hit me that this wasn't something that I was going to recover from and... I awoke." 1651: "Be specific." 7218: "... I realized that I might never leave the hospital again. I couldn't even turn my neck to look out the window anymore, and the doctors told me that any attempt to repair it with surgery would cause it to worsen drastically." 7218: "... I just wanted to escape, I suppose. To be somewhere else, to leave that horrid sterile room behind. I couldn't though, they'd strapped me to the bed "for my own safety." 7218: "I panicked. I tried to get loose, but I couldn't. Then there was an agonizing snap in my neck, and I blacked out. When I awoke, there were portals flickering in and out of existence around me. One appeared inside the vase of flowers and cut it in half." 7218: "I tried to control them, tried to make them go somewhere I wanted, to somewhere outside... and one formed. I saw through it a view of a park I used to play in. It was useless though. I still couldn't move, and the pain in my neck was overwhelming. I hit the call nurse button, and I think I fell unconscious again. By the time I woke up, I was here." 1651: "So the dominant emotion you were feeling at the time was the desire to escape, correct?" 7218: "Yes. It's horribly ironic, isn't it? I can make portals, but even if I went through one I'd not escape my illness. That, and the TKGB would hunt me down and put me under guard. I'd be more trapped than I am now." 1651: "... In my experience, these reality warping powers never actually help the person who gains them. They always respond to the trauma that awakens them, but literally enough that they miss the actual problem and provide a patch job at best." 7218: "That would fit me alright. You have a lot of experience with metahumans?" 1651: "It is the reason I was allowed to become your analyst. I have memorized all the available documentation on your kind." 7218: "That's... a lot of data. How'd you do that?" 1651: "I have the ability to analyze and instantly recall all data I encounter. As I said, I am very familiar with the ironies of metahuman - Entry 2 -get that we are moving on to actually testing them, but how is this supposed to work? Aren't we supposed to meet in person at some point?" 8129: "No. I am not physically present on the campus, and the risk of further injury and solidification for you is too high to warrant meeting in person." 4002: "I can still walk you know, how hard could it be to arrange a meeting somewhere?" 8219: "You misunderstand me. I am not currently in the same SSR as you, and due to my own condition, cannot travel." 4002: "Wait, your condition? I thought you said that I was the one who would risk injury? You have a condition?" 8219: "Indeed. I suffer from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis." 4002: "Again with the long words. Translation please?" 8219: "It is a progressive neural degenerative disease that gradually, or in my case, rapidly, destroys the nerves controlling voluntary muscle movements. At the moment I require assistance to move." 4002: "... I'm sorry, I didn't know. That explains why we can't meet in person, and why you are a... well. Nevermind." 8219: "No need. I should not have attempted to conceal it from you." 4002: "Not your fault, well, kinda, but I would have done the same. So what should I do then? I can't create a portal if I haven't been to the target location, and, well, I haven't been to many locations recently." 8219: "For now we will begin with the basics. Please create a portal two meters from the door, and its counterpart two meters from the window." 4002: "Done. What now?" 8219: "Your records show that you have a maximum time limit for maintaining your portals. Keep them open for as long as possible while I monitor your Distorted Perception Field." 4002: "I can't hold it any longer." 8219: "Very well. Take five minutes to recover, then create seven portals. You may choose the locations, but do not allow them to intersect with any objects. Hold them for as long as you can. 4002: "Gah, lost one. How'd I do?" 8219: "You held them for longer than you did the single portal. That implies something interesting. 4002: "The larger the portal the harder it is to hold open, right?" 8219: "Apparently. Take five, then open a single portal. As large a diameter as you can safely fit in this room." 4002: "I have a bad feeling about this..." 4002: "Sorry, I couldn't hold it. That was way harder than the last one... I've got a splitting headache now. Hopefully my brain won't turn into bone..." 8219: "If it does occur, I doubt I will notice a difference" 4002: "Oh ha ha. Ow. Seriously though, I can't keep going." 8219: "The data from this test was sufficient. You may take a break" 4002: " A break? You mean there's more? Oh great. You really are heartless aren't you?" 8219: "Technically true I suppose, or at least, I don't have a functioning heart..." 4002: "Wait, really? I'm so sorry." 8219: "Again, no need. Take half an hour to recover, and reconnect to the chat room when you are ready." 4002: "Aye, I'll be back after I get some food. And some painkillers." User 4002 has left the chat room. Entry 3 User 7683 has entered the chat room. User 2427 has entered the chat room. 2427: "It's been a long time, how have you been?" 7683: "I knew it was only a matter of time before you made a portal joke." 2427: "Think about it, we are basically doing "aperture science." 7683: "Please stop. The jokes are so bad it hurts." 2427: "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." 7683: "I'll burn your house down with a combustible lemon if you don't stop it!" 2427: "Now look who's doing it." 7683: "Aw crap. Alright, you got me doing it too." 2427: "Jokes aside, we do have some tests to do today." 7683: "Right, I think we were going to try using some sort of beacon to see if my power can lock onto someplace I've never been before, correct?" 2427: "Correct. I've gone over the readings I've gotten over the years, and while whatever your power does is way too complex for even me to fully comprehend, I think I have figured out how it targets specific locations. Earth is hurtling through space at an incredibly high speed, so it can't just lock onto a single place in space-time, so I'm guessing that it uses some sort of landmark as an anchor of sorts." 7683: "It can't be an absolute anchor though, I've managed to get a portal to move while still opening. 2427: "Right. So it is probably less of an anchor, and more of a landmark which it bases it's location off of. I've had a series of potential options for these landmarks placed in a warehouse approximately five hundred kilometers away. I even managed to get a member of the TKGB, a gravity manipulator, to assist." 7683: "Wait, TKGB? How'd you get them to do that?" 2427: "The General Secretary herself ordered them to. Your power has caught the attention of the party leadership." 7683: "I'm not sure I know how to feel about that. Why are they interested in me? Why is she ''interested in me? I thought their five-year plan was having trouble getting started or something? 2427: "Ironically, that is exactly why they are interested. They want to see if your power can be put to use for the benefit of the state. If we can manage to open portals to places across the Soviet Union, even if they can only move a small amount of goods it would be a massive boon during the winter alone." 7683: "I mean, I suppose I do owe the state for funding my stay here for so long. Still, it feels kinda weird." 2427: "You should probably also be aware that they have scientists attempting to, for lack of a better word, reverse engineer your power. Last I was aware, they had assigned several Type-II think tanks to the task, with the ultimate goal of finding a way to mimic your ability with technology alone." 7683: "Do you think that is even possible? I mean, we've been studying my power for years, and neither of us, least of all myself, understand exactly what does or how it works. Metahuman abilities casually violate the laws of physics, don't they? How is it possible to replicate one?" 2427: "I will admit I do not have much hope for success. It is an extremely long shot, most likely doomed to failure, but the potential rewards if it were successful are too momentous to ignore." 7683: "How will they even do it? Last I heard no one has had any luck creating an artificial DP field?" 2427: "They are attempting to circumvent the DP field entirely by using sorcery until they figure out how to create the effect without either. Your power is proof that it is technically possible, the question is how to do it without violating the laws of our reality. It is similar to knowing the answer to a question, but not knowing the question or the formula used to get the answer." 7683: "Forty Two." 2427: "Precisely. Now shall we begin?" 7683: "Aye, switching over to the "official" chatroom then." '''User 7683 has left the chat room. User 2427 has left the chat room.' Entry 4 User 9645 has entered the chat room. 9645: "Are you awake?" User 7232 has been pinged. 7232: "Yes. Is something wrong?" 9645: "Painkillers aren't working too well. I think I must have built up a tolerance." 7232: "Have you tried changing prescriptions?" 9645: "Have, but my condition complicates things. 7232: "... Your condition has reached the stage where you have trouble breathing, hasn't it? Why didn't you tell me?" 9645: "I didn't want to worry you. Until now, I was handling it fine on my own." 7232: "We're friends aren't we? You shouldn't have to worry about that, not when you are in pain." 9645: "I'm sorry. I don't think I wanted to admit to myself what was happening. It's been... hard, losing the ability to do things I once took for granted over the years." 7232: "Is there anything I can do to help you?" 9645: "Talk I suppose. I could use a distraction while I wait for the sleeping pills I just took to kick in." 7232: "Of course. What do you want to talk about?" 9645: "I'm not sure, it's been a while since we had a chance to just talk... It's funny, actually. We've spent decades trying to understand and discover the limits of our powers, but I don't think I ever told you why I wanted to have mine in the first place." 7232: "Something more than what caused you to awaken?" 9645: "Yes. It was a small, childish dream really. A desire so immature and unrealistic that it is embarrassing to recall... I wanted to be a hero." 7232: "I wouldn't call that a childish dream. I'm pretty sure everyone has dreams of becoming a hero at some time or another." 9645: "I suppose you're right. It's been haunting me of late though, that old dream. It's just... I came so close, you know? I beat the odds, if you can call awakening a victory." 7232: "Considering what we have learned over the years, I'd hesitate to call it a victory. A pyrrhic one, perhaps. Anyway, sorry for interrupting." 9645: "Yeah, a pyrrhic one... but I made it, I gained powers. Everyone else it seems, aside from you and I, for them powers result in them making a difference, whether they become a hero or a villain. I wanted that, back in the beginning." 7232: "You don't feel that we've made a difference?" 9645: "I know we have, I mean, they just managed to keep a portal open for a second using sorcery alone. If they can continue that rate of progress, before long... It just... wasn't the kind of difference I wanted to make. Call me selfish, but I wanted to be out there, in the real world, helping people directly, fighting against the evil that is always there." 7232: "I can understand that. You don't feel... connected, I suppose, to the way you've helped people." 9645: "Exactly. Consciously, I know that we've probably had a greater impact here than we ever could have out there. Still. I would have liked to have followed that dream, to be outside, even if it meant my death. 7232: "... It's been hard for you, to lose the ability to do things as you once did, as your body betrayed you. I'm sorry." 9645: "Why should you be sorry? You've suffered the same thing, if not worse, and you have been the reason it's been bearable. But yes. I miss being able to move, to go beyond this room that has become my world... I wish I had been able to fulfill that dream before now. It was a foolish, selfish wish, but it was one I held onto, hoping against hope. 7232: "... Is something wrong? Worse than the pain medication not working as it should? You seem... different. I don't recall you being so depressed before." 9645: "No. No, I'm just tired. I think the sleeping pills are finally kicking in. I'll talk to you tomorrow. We've still got a lot to do after all, and I should feel better in the morning" 7232: "Yeah, we do. Good night. I hope you sleep well." 9645: "You as well. Good night." User 9645 has left the chat room. User 7232 has left the chat room: Entry 5 User 4913 has entered the chat room. 4913: "Good morning. 4913: "Still asleep? When you wake up, I'd like to continue our conversation about the movie we watched last night. There were a few things I didn't understand." 4913: "I'll be away from the terminal for a bit, will be back in about half an hour." 4913: "I'm back." 4913: "Hello? Is something wrong?" User -error, no other occupant- has been pinged. 4913: "No, no no no, don't scare me like this. This is another joke, right?" 4913: "Damn it, please respond..." 4913: "!Admin Override: Access user records, most recent entry: Tri-net terminal serial number 4957-3680-21" Records found. Last entry: "In accordance with postmortem procedures, subject's terminal is to be disconnected from the Tri-network and prepared for data archival." User 4913 has left the chat room Chat room closed. Archive dump in progress... Complete. Shutting down system.Category:Stories